Game warden cases: Few outdoors people violate the law. But when they do. . .

One of the things about which I worry when putting together these semi-regular posts listing some of the most egregious, amusing or just outright bizarre cases worked by Texas game wardens is that they give a negatively skewed view of the folks who hunt, fish, boat or otherwise spend time recreating in the outdoors.

The flagrant violators and other “subjects” – poachers, thieves, vandals, intoxicated boaters and other manner of criminals as well as the clueless and reckless chumps that get themselves into jams from which wardens have to extract them – are a tiny minority.

Truth is, records show more than 95 percent of the folks Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens encounter when doing their jobs are abiding by the rules and following the law.

It just may not seem that way when you read the briefs I select from TPWD law enforcement division’s weekly field reports. After all, there’s relatively little news or even entertainment value in a report that says, “Game wardens in “X” County checked 40 dove hunters, and found all of them to be in full compliance with regulations.”

But that happens. A lot. And to illustrate that, here are a couple of briefs from the past couple of weeks:

On Sept. 23, Crockett County Game Warden Mark Blount and Sutton County Game Warden Will Allison took a break from checking dove hunters and made the trip to Lake Amistad for some water safety patrol. Numerous fishermen with very good catches of largemouth bass were checked and all found to be in compliance with state regulations.

District 1 game wardens have been busy checking dove hunters and fishermen catching oversize redfish. The majority of the contacts are abiding by regulations, as the violations have been far and few.

Of course, not everyone follows the rules. See below:

Calhoun County Game Wardens were called to assist the sheriff’s office Oct. 25 on a vehicle that had evaded a stop in which 20-plus occupants bailed out and fled to nearby pastures and the Guadalupe Delta Wildlife Management Area at Green Lake.

Game wardens assisted in the arrest of the driver of the vehicle, which contained about 100 pounds of marijuana.

Other occupants of the car who fled were seen carrying backpacks and were not located.

September 25, at a community fishing lake in Dennison, Grayson County Game Warden Dale Moses contacted two fishermen who didn’t have fishing licenses and had an undersize channel catfish.

Because neither subject had identification, Warden Moses ran a check and found one of the subjects had an arrest warrant out of Grayson County for “Terroristic Threat.”

Warden Moses was in the process of citing the subject who didn’t have the warrant when he received a call on his cell phone.

The caller advised Warden Moses that several subjects at the Denison Dam boat ramp were spear-fishing smallmouth bass and gave a description of the suspects.

Warden Moses arranged for the spear-fishing subjects to be detained by State Park peace officers Adam James and Eric Carleton for Grayson County Game Wardens Colt Gaulden and Michael Hummert.

Warden Moses then arrested the wanted subject and transported him to the Grayson County Jail where some drug paraphernalia was found on the subject.

Wardens located the spear fishermen; two of the subjects were in the water wearing divers’ masks, and three other subjects on the shore.

Wardens Gaulden and Hummert determined that the two subjects who had been in the water were using a homemade spear gun (a metal rod and surgical tubing) to spear game fish.

A third subject had been using a cast net to catch game fish.

The subjects had in their possession several largemouth and smallmouth bass, and a red-eared slider turtle.

The subjects who were fishing did not have fishing licenses or identification.

Thanks to a group effort, three subjects were arrested and charged with taking game fish by illegal means and fishing without a license.

Cases and civil restitution pending.

Wharton County Game Warden Chris Bird was patrolling on Sept. 23, opening day dove hunters in the South Zone when he encountered two hunters who had packed up for the morning and were preparing to leave the field and head home.

While checking the two men for hunting licenses and doves, the warden found they also had taken another bird species.

The two men claimed that the birds were running along the ground when they shot them and that they thought the birds were teal.

Warden Bird then asked why they shot the “teal” with lead shot, which is illegal for taking waterfowl.

The two men stood speechless, and Warden Bird wrote citations for hunting and possessing bobwhite quail out of season.

The captain was in possession of tilefish without sufficient IFQ allocation.

Wardens seized 331 pounds of fish.

Additionally, a member of the crew was caught in the act of attempting to hide a box.

When wardens examined the box, they found it held several different species of coral.

Federal agents with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) were notified, and they requested the coral be seized.

Preliminary investigation revealed the coral was illegal to possess.

Cases pending.

Harris County Game Wardens Jennifer Inkster responded to a Sept. 23 call in Harris County concerning possession of live game animal (white-tailed deer).

Upon arrival at the scene, Inkster found two white-tailed fawns in the subject’s backyard.

She also observed a suspicious plant growing in a pot next to the deer enclosure.

The plant was seized, sent to the DPS crime lab, and tested positive for marijuana.

Cases pending.

On Friday, September 23, opening day of the South Zone dove season, Dimmit County Game Warden Eugene Fernandez and Zavala County Game Warden Chris Stautzenberger filed on several individuals at two different locations for hunting migratory game birds over a baited area and placing bait to attract migratory game birds, along with hunting without a license and hunting with illegal (unplugged) shotguns.

The following morning, Warden Fernandez filed on more individuals for the same violations.

In all, three separate baited areas were discovered and multiple hunters were filed on.

It must have rained milo and corn the night before since no one seemed to know it was there or how it got there.

While patrolling for migratory game bird enforcement in Haskell County on Sept. 23, Haskell County Game Warden Ryan Peacock heard automatic gunfire.

Warden Peacock located a suspect who was in possession of an AK-47 which had been converted to fully automatic capabilities.

The suspect stated that he had the appropriate federal permit for the weapon.

Peacock’s investigation revealed the contrary.

Warden Peacock seized the weapon.

This case has already been true billed by the grand jury and is pending.

Rusk County Game Wardens Kirk Permenter and Chad Gartman received information Sept. 20 about a deer killed off a farm-to-market road near Tatum, and two other deer shot in the previous weeks.

The wardens located a buck lying on a highline right-of-way and caught the subject as he returned about two hours later to recover the deer.

The other information led to two more subjects, with one admitting to shooting two deer in previous three weeks.

Two buck deer, scoring 160 3/4 and 164 3/8, were recovered.

Multiple citations and restitution pending.

Clarence Avery, a licensed marine dealer who owned lake Travis Boat Sales in Travis County, defrauded the State of Texas and his customers out of thousands of dollars, an investigation by TPWD’s boat theft unit’s Sgt. Ken Fowler discovered.

Avery decided it would be more profitable to sell boats he was under contract to sell and keep either all or part of the money. He would also steal either all or part of the sales tax, title and registration fees.

He attempted to cover up the thefts by providing the purchasers of the boats with false TPWD boat registration, titling fees, and sales tax transaction receipts that he manufactured on his personal computer.

Avery also forged the sellers’ names on the vessel/boat application and the outboard motor application.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department was contacted when the purchasers of the boats failed to receive titles to their boats.

On Sept. 19, a Texas court sentenced Avery to 7 years in prison for first degree felony theft of more than $200,000.

He also received 18 months in prison for tampering with governmental records.

He was immediately taken into custody to begin serving his sentence.

Avery was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the aggregate amount of $269,734.40 in addition to the $21,000 he has already paid.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is to receive $75,643.35

Brazoria County Game Warden Jason Richers was contacted Sept. 16 by a landowner regarding some hunting stands being placed on his property.

Warden Richers met with the landowner and removed the stands from the property and left his business card at the location.

A few days later Richers received a call from an individual inquiring about the stands.

Warden Richers met with the individual the next day and explained to him that the stands were placed on private property.

Warden Richers gave the individual his property back and explained that he must have permission from the landowner of the property he intends to hunt.

On Sept. 28, Warden Richers received a call from the landowner saying the stands were placed back at the same location.

On October 1, Brazoria County Game Wardens Jason Richers, Jim Bob Van Dyke, Joe Goff, Scott Jennings and Fort Bend County Game Warden Mike Weiss patrolled to the location and arrested two individuals for hunting without landowner consent.

Cases pending.

Kent/Dickens County Game Warden Danny Kessel received a call early Monday morning from a bowhunter, who found his stand to be occupied by a trespasser armed with an assault rifle and a pistol.

Upon arrival, the violator informed Warden Kessel that the previous night he left his camp with an alcohol induced plan to go shoot a pig. He stated that he left his camp, got lost, and decided to wait out the night in the deer stand.

The violator had no hunting license or identification, and he crossed four property lines, which were posted with no trespassing signs.

2 Responses

i think the penalty for these violations should be much more severe than they are. as stated, 95% of us hunt by the rules. those that don’t, have no problem violating the law multiple times. a boater or trawler caught more than once with fish taken illegaly should lose his boat.thieves caught poaching deer should lose their vehicle.